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152
REPORT OF THE. COMMISSION
ON PARISH EDUCATION
TO DR. LEONARD KENDALL, President of the Lutheran Minnesota
Conference:
The Commission on Parish Education submits the following report:
"Do no sinful action,
Speak no angry word;
Ye belong to Jesus,
Children of the Lord."
* * *
"Cornelia kept her in talk till her children came from school,
and these, said she, are my jewels."
These two quotations, the first taken from "Do No Sinful Action" by Cecil
Frances Alexander, and the second clipped from "Anatomy of Melancholy" by
Robert Burton, reflect the Scriptural truth of the status and value of the children
in the church. These children of whom and for whom we are so desperately con­cerned
have come into possession of the Kingdom of God by the Sacrament of
Holy Baptism, and therefore belong to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, and,
consequently, are the "Precious Jewels, His loved and His own."
Since this is an accepted premise on the part of Christian parents as well
as the Christian church do we labor with every Scriptural method possible to
keep these "jewels" in the covenant of grace through the growing and formative
years of their lives. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is
old he will not depart from it." This must ever be the purpose, the motivating
spirit and the reason for Christian education, parish education, church school
courses, teachers' preparation institutes, schools . of methods or any other program
designed to give the necessary instruction to the "jewels" entrusted to the
church. As a spearhead for this most essential work you have chosen a Com­mission
on Parish Education to assist in giving direction to the parishes so that
the best results possible might be obtained.
Your Parish Education Commission has held two major sessions since the last
convention of the Conference. To these sessions we invited the regularly elected
district parish education representatives in order to give cross-section Conference
information as to what we are endeavoring to accomplish for the church, also
to receive from these representatives information as to prob1ems, programs
and proposals for a better understanding of the church school needs in all the
areas of our large Minnesota Conference. In this report we wish to reflect upon
many of the issues which are involved in our total program.
The American church school scene was recently jolted by an article appear­ing
in one of our popular magazines written by a certain Rev. Dr. Shrader under
the caption, "The Most Wasted Hour." Let it be said that we are grateful for
this one-sided . explosive literary contribution. It did arouse sleepy church­members
in regard to our church schools; it was a "call to arms" on the part of
pastors and church leaders who are either constantly critical of or chronically
indifferent to the strenuous efforts put forth by parish education directors and
teachers; and it voiced a challenge for programs for better teacher-preparation­time
and courses, as well as for more unstinted financial support for up-to-date
equipment and course-materials.
The magazine article does not give a true picture of church school

152
REPORT OF THE. COMMISSION
ON PARISH EDUCATION
TO DR. LEONARD KENDALL, President of the Lutheran Minnesota
Conference:
The Commission on Parish Education submits the following report:
"Do no sinful action,
Speak no angry word;
Ye belong to Jesus,
Children of the Lord."
* * *
"Cornelia kept her in talk till her children came from school,
and these, said she, are my jewels."
These two quotations, the first taken from "Do No Sinful Action" by Cecil
Frances Alexander, and the second clipped from "Anatomy of Melancholy" by
Robert Burton, reflect the Scriptural truth of the status and value of the children
in the church. These children of whom and for whom we are so desperately con­cerned
have come into possession of the Kingdom of God by the Sacrament of
Holy Baptism, and therefore belong to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, and,
consequently, are the "Precious Jewels, His loved and His own."
Since this is an accepted premise on the part of Christian parents as well
as the Christian church do we labor with every Scriptural method possible to
keep these "jewels" in the covenant of grace through the growing and formative
years of their lives. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is
old he will not depart from it." This must ever be the purpose, the motivating
spirit and the reason for Christian education, parish education, church school
courses, teachers' preparation institutes, schools . of methods or any other program
designed to give the necessary instruction to the "jewels" entrusted to the
church. As a spearhead for this most essential work you have chosen a Com­mission
on Parish Education to assist in giving direction to the parishes so that
the best results possible might be obtained.
Your Parish Education Commission has held two major sessions since the last
convention of the Conference. To these sessions we invited the regularly elected
district parish education representatives in order to give cross-section Conference
information as to what we are endeavoring to accomplish for the church, also
to receive from these representatives information as to prob1ems, programs
and proposals for a better understanding of the church school needs in all the
areas of our large Minnesota Conference. In this report we wish to reflect upon
many of the issues which are involved in our total program.
The American church school scene was recently jolted by an article appear­ing
in one of our popular magazines written by a certain Rev. Dr. Shrader under
the caption, "The Most Wasted Hour." Let it be said that we are grateful for
this one-sided . explosive literary contribution. It did arouse sleepy church­members
in regard to our church schools; it was a "call to arms" on the part of
pastors and church leaders who are either constantly critical of or chronically
indifferent to the strenuous efforts put forth by parish education directors and
teachers; and it voiced a challenge for programs for better teacher-preparation­time
and courses, as well as for more unstinted financial support for up-to-date
equipment and course-materials.
The magazine article does not give a true picture of church school